Planet ISKCON

Mercy from His Room

The jiva is a an appreciator and Krishna is the Supreme appreciated and that's our job, that's all we have to do, to appreciate Krishna and all Krishna has to do is be Krishna because He's completely appreciable. Every living entity has an appreciating capacity. Some living entity's appreciating capacity is very small, but when we come to the human form of life we can expand our appreciating capacity unlimitedly. What blocks it? Matsarya, envy! Matsarya means the inability to tolerate the eminence of another. But devotees have freedom from matsarya and the ability to appreciate. And they expand their appreciating capacity, and as they do, they have so much overflow that they go out to distribute to others. This is the process of Krishna consciousness. Continue reading "Jiva the appreciator and Krsna the appreciable
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Honorable Lt Governer of NCT Delhi meets the devotees.
Vrajendranandan Das: Recently we met Shri Najeeb Jung, Honorable Lt Governer of NCT Delhi. H.H. Gopal Krishna Goswami Maharaja presented Bhagavad Gita As it Is in English language and briefed him about ISKCONs Golden Jubilee celebrations around the world. H.H. Gopal Krishna Maharaja appraised him about ISKCONs spreading Vedic culture for benefit of humanity, through ISKCONs 650 centers around the world. Maharaja invited Lt. Governor for Lord Jagannath Rath Yatra in Delhi on 05/Nov/2016. Honorable Lt Governor was very impressed after patiently listening about ISKCON. He is interested to visit our New Delhi Temple in December 2016.

His Holiness Bhakti Charu Swami speaks on Vedic Knowledge and his book - “Ocean of Mercy” at the House of Lords on the occasion of 50 years of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON)

New Talavana’s Cow Festival.
New Talavans tenth annual Cow Fest on Oct. 1 was definitely its most successful and exciting yet!!! Why? Because for once we werent preaching to the choir! All agreed that for the first time in years there were more festival new comers then devotees! Over 100 guests were greeted with the beauty of New Talavanits well-manicured grounds, lovely ponds, soaring hardwoods, varieties of flowers, and dozens of fruit bearing trees. Several guests, fantasizing aloud, were even inspired to ask, How can I live here too? One first time guest, a well-traveled missionary, proclaimed, In all my journeys, I have never witnessed a place quite as beautiful and peaceful! Here are a few more highlights of our visitors impressions:

Arab Man Coming Back for Books Again and Again.
Vijaya Dasa: While distributing books at the West LA College in Los Angeles, I was speaking to a man from Saudi Arabia. He is upset that there is so much fighting in the Arab countries. I showed him the picture in the Gita of how a wise person sees within everyone both a soul and God and therefore respects all living entities.
Then I said, “If everyone saw like this, there’d no longer be wars around the world and there’d be no room for racism.”
He was so pleased to hear this that he gave a donation for a Gita, and I also gave him “Beyond Birth and Death” in Arabic. He was shocked that I had a book in Arabic, and that increased his happiness. Ten minutes later he came back and said that he had read some of the book and found it very interesting. He asked whether I had more books in Arabic. I said, “No, sorry.”
Then he said, “Do you have any more copies of the same book?”
I said, “Yes, I do.”
I gave him two more, and he made another nice donation.
Ten minutes later he came back again and asked whether he could give a donation for another Gita. This was turning into too much ecstasy.
I gave him my contact information, and he said that he’ll visit the temple this Sunday.
I was waiting for him to come back again, since it had become a regular thing, but he didn’t. I hope to see him again this Sunday.
Your servant,
Vijaya Dasa

The post Daily Darshan: November2,2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

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Four Sets, One Person.
I had a late start on Friday, July 1, 2016 (because of other services at the temple), but it was an excellent start. The first person I met took a Gita even though he could not even speak much English. This made me think it’s going to be a fantastic day. It proved to be so after meeting George. This was at Chinatown in Sydney,Australia.
George was born and brought up in Australia. He had not visited the temple, but was aware of it and appreciated the work done by the Hare Krsnas. He likes reading books and is reading one on the Upanisads. Hearing this, I showed him a Srimad Bhagavatam.
Seeing his interest, I read to him the text 1.1.3 and told him that this book is the ripened fruit of all the Vedic knowledge. He liked it. I had listened to a lecture on this verse earlier in the day, and I heard that it will satisfy all of the heart’s desires.
I showed him a BBT brochure and said that the Bhagavatam is a set of twelve volumes. He expressed interest to get a set the next day. Straight away, I connected to the verse even more, as I also pray to meet people who’d like a full set of Srila Prabupada’s books.
The next day happened to be Ekadasi, so I had some hope for George. In the morning he called, and to my surprise he also requested a Sri Caitanya-caritamrita set, which he could not even pronounce properly.
On meeting him. I offered him a full plate of Sri Sri Sri Radha-Gopinatha maha-prasada, and he relished it.
On receiving the two sets, he said, “I have heard there are three sets.”
I told him not three; there are four, including the Prabupada-lilamrita and Brhad Bhagavatamrita. I invited him to a program at the temple. Devamrita Swami was in Sydney to give a class on Sunday. George did not make it for that class, but we got copies of the Lilamrita and Brhad Bhagavatamrita signed by Maharaja for him.
He is so appreciative of the devotees that it’s no wonder he has the inspiration to receive these transcendental books. I am writing this to express my gratitude to all the devotees he saw or met before, who helped him develop the desire to accept all these books.
Lord Caitanya’s causeless mercy is available for all. I feel grateful to be an instrument in some service to please Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu and his beloved devotees. I pray to all the Vaisnavas for mercy to increase set distribution. I also beg that you all bless George to study these books now and perfect his life.
His picture is attached.
Your servant,
Dhira-Lalita Dasa

https://flic.kr/s/aHskGkKrvr

For 10 days devotees from different parts of the world attended the pilot course on "Vaisnava Life Counseling: A practical framework to support individuals and communities in ISKCON". An assorted group of devotees, interested in developing further their counseling skills and gaining a deeper understanding on how to help devotees, gathered in Sridhama Mayapur for a "hands-on" training in counseling. For over a year the CDM, in partnership with the Mayapur Institute (Atul Krsna Prabhu), has been working in the development of this course seeing the need for providing informed support to devotees experiencing difficulties of different kind. Iksvaku das, an Australian Social Worker and Counseling trainer -who facilitated the course- commented, "I am impressed by the great response we got from different temples and leaders about this course. This shows that this kind of training was long overdue in ISKCON. We hope Srila Prabhupada is pleased with this endeavour to attend to the devotees' well-being." Continue reading "ISKCON’s Congregational Development Ministry (CDM) Delivers First Counseling Training Course in Mayapur
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The annual Bandung Light festival to commemorate the anniversary of Bandung city this year was celebrated on October 09, 2016. The grand festival was attended by most people in Bandung. This public festival was a chance for the devotees to introduce the Hare Krishna movement in Bandung. As Srila Prabhupada mention in his letter that “The time is fast approaching when we will have to perform such public kirtana in all the important cities of the world. Here also, in the Expo, they have performed kirtana for two days, and it is wonderfully successful." (SPL to Yamunä, July, 1968). The devotees did ratha yatra on the festival and this was the third Jagannath Ratha-yatra held in Bandung. Continue reading "Lord Jagannatha lights up light festival of Banding, Indonesia
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The entire TOVP Team wishes to publicly take this opportunity to recognize and thank the managers and devotees of the worldwide BBT/BBTI for their cooperation and service to the TOVP project since its beginnings in 2009. To date over $1.7 million has been given by the BBT/BBTI to the project, a most significant amount. Many devotees are unaware of the financial commitment made by the BBT/BBTI to fund the construction of the TOVP. This is in accordance with Srila Prabhupada’s instructions that the BBT utilize the profits from the sales of his books to fund temple construction and other projects throughout the world. It is most laudable that this directive of Srila Prabhupada has been maintained and such a large financial commitment has been directed to the TOVP year after year. We could not have come to the point of our current construction without these funds. And based on future financial projections we feel we will realize our common goal to together celebrate the Grand Opening of the TOVP during Gaur Purnima 2022. Continue reading "Recognizing the BBT/BBTI for Their Service to the TOVP
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Visiting Ter Kadamba in Vrindavana (Album with photos)
Srila Prabhupada: Krsna consciousness means “I am Krsna’s – that’s all.”
>>> Ref. VedaBase => Bhagavad-gita 16.1-3 – Hawaii, January 29, 1975
Find them here: https://goo.gl/QXa3DX

Beautiful Vrinda Kunda (6 min video)
Indradyumna Swami: Vrinda Devi helps Purnamasi plan and orchestrate Radha and Krsna’s daily pastimes in Vrindavan. Our parikrama party had the good fortune to visit her kunda ( pond ) and discuss her glories and chant her holy names in that beautiful and sanctified abode.
Watch it here: https://goo.gl/cpeMdb

Swamiji’s Attractive Beauty

Dipavali greetings from Sacinandana Swami. (Video by Filip Cargonja)

Parikrama around Govardhan Hill during the month of Kartika in Vrindavan, India is a favorite devotional activity for devotees of Lord Krsna. Chanting softly on their prayer beads a group of 400 devotees relished every step of the 24 kilometer walk. Ananta Vrindavan dasa’s outstanding footage captured the bliss of the pilgrimage.

OPEN INVITATION: The board members of ISKCON New Vrindaban & ECO-Vrindaban humbly invite all New Vrindaban residents, neighbors and well-wishers to participate in the upcoming weekend activities.

NOVEMBER 11^th, 12^th & 13^th WEEKEND SCHEDULE:

Friday, November 11th

7:30 pm to 8:30 pm: Dinner Prasad with member of the Village Council, Steering Committee, INV & ECO-V Boards & GBCs (at Radha Vrindaban Chandra’s Temple)

Saturday, November 12th

9:00 am to 10:00 am: Breakfast Prasad (at Radha Vrindaban Chandra’s Temple)

9:45 am to 1:30 pm: INV & ECO-V Department Head Presentations (under Lodge)

1:30 pm to 2:30 pm: Lunch Prasad (at Radha Vrindaban Chandra’s Temple)

2:30 pm to 5:00 pm: Community Dialog (Topics: Village Council & Moving Jagannath, under Lodge)

7:30 pm to 8:30 pm: Dinner Prasad with member of the Village Council, Steering Committee, INV & ECO-V Boards & GBCs (at Radha Vrindaban Chandra’s Temple)

Sunday, November 13th

9:00 am to 10:00 am: Breakfast Prasad (at Radha Vrindaban Chandra’s Temple)

10:00 am to 1:00 pm: Parikrama Tour (Prabhupada’s Palace, Spirit Garden, Temple Barn & RVC’s Workshop Building, weather permitting)

1:00 pm to 3:00 pm: Sunday Program & Feast (at RVC’s Temple)

3:30 pm to 5:30 pm: Service Appreciations (under Lodge, Pitambar & Amburish, Gopa & Damodara, & HH Varsana Swami)

(Kadamba Kanana Swami, 03 November 2013, Vrindavan, India, Lecture: Damodar Lila)

This is the month of Kartik and I was asked to speak on the month of Damodar but although Damodar is so much on my mind, even more than that is the disappearance of Srila Prabhupada actually.

We will have arati in Srila Prabhupada’s room, by his bed. At the end of the arati, Srila Prabhupada’s chadar goes around, the big grey woollen chadar and it is heavy. When I felt that heavy chadar, I felt the weight of responsibility – now we have to do something; we have to do something to take up this mission!

It is up to us now. See, we have inherited it. Now what are we going to do for Srila Prabhupada’s mission to make the whole world Krsna conscious. I feel that weight on my head with that chadar. So, we do not need to look at our hearts and do deep psycho-analysis to see whether we can find a trace of the six enemies: lust, anger and greed, madness and envy – don’t worry, it is there! But somehow or other, embrace the service of Srila Prabhupada – if you do that and if we do something to make others Krsna conscious, he will surely look in our direction. He will shower us with mercy and that will save us!

Govardhan parikrama from the air (11 min video)
Amazing footage of this holy place, recorded from above, through a camera on a ...

The post Daily Darshan: November1,2016 appeared first on Mayapur.com.

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A special ceremony to celebrate Diwali celebration at Sri Lanka’s President’s House.
ISKCON Sri Lanka Temple President Sriman Mahakarta Das along with Srimathi Nandarani Devi the Principal of Gokulam Bhaktivedanta Children’s Home, participated in the Diwali Celebrations held on the Diwali day at the President’s House. Pictures show Miss. Krishna Priya presenting a copy of ‘Bhagavad Gita As it is’ to the President of Sri Lanka on behalf of the Devotees of the Temple.

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